‘Twas the night before lockdown, when all through the temple something was stirring, but not a full house…
On Wednesday 4th November, with hours to go before lockdown 2, six members of Temple Island came together to perform a passing for one of their three entered apprentices. The lodge had already had a meeting under the Rule of 6 in September when they proclaimed W. Bro Owen Mott as Worshipful Master for another year, so they were getting the hang of the restrictions. To carry out a passing meant that some of the officers had to be like Swiss Army Knives, carrying out more than one office. The Secretary, W. Bro Chris Wagstaff, acted as WM for the evening, while W. Bro Shahid Butt, the lodge treasurer, acted not only as secretary, but also as Inner Guard, IPM, and Chaplain. W .Bro Jonathan Williams, the lodge D.C. acted as both Junior and Senior Deacons, and Tyler. Bro. Stuart Bindley Ross, the first of Temple Island’s new recruits, took his rightful place as Junior Warden, having served in every office up to that point through the years, and to give some of the junior members a turn, Bro. Richard Bell acted in the office of Senior Warden for the night.
The candidate was Bro. David Downing, who was well prepared, not just in the answers to the questions, but even to the extent of bringing his own bible so that all Covid precautions were adhered to. The ceremony went through seamlessly, and in a manner that was so different, that rather than losing out on the experience, the candidate gained by such a memorable, unusual and special occasion.
The piece de resistance was of the DC’s making… when he opened his masonic case and brought out rubber gloves stuffed with poodle hair – yes you read that correctly – POODLE HAIR… to act as surrogate hands with which to demonstrate the grips at the appropriate times. I did say it was an unusual occasion. The candidate had his own low pedestal 2m from the Master’s pedestal, and he followed the acting SD rather than be guided by the hand, but amazingly it all worked out really well. If any other lodges are considering doing a restricted ceremony, do ask for any advice from the secretary or DC of Temple Island and they will be very happy to assist.
A precis of the above story was posted on the Temple Island Facebook page and it was extremely well received – with a post reach of 26,250 . It had 860 likes, comments and shares, and just under 4000 click throughs. That post, coupled with others in the recent Temple Island social media campaign took the monthly post reach to over 53,500 which has not only boosted the Temple Island Facebook “home” page likes to 1,241, an increase over the month of 261 followers, but more importantly, led to 2 potential candidates for initiation in 2021, underlining the importance of social media as a tool for lodges in today’s society.
Is it the Eurovision or is it a TIL Zoom meeting?
Temple Island Lodge 8031 in Henley on Thames has in the past few years gained a reputation as a go-to lodge for visiting, with it’s festive board menus from around the World and exciting programmes of meetings, with as many as 70 attendees of a regular (ie not an Installation) meeting being not unknown.
But since Covid they have continued their open and vibrant approach to Freemasonry, and during their regular Zoom meetings are now getting frequent visitors from all over the UK. Recently they saw participants from Newquay in Cornwall right up Fife in Scotland or even near the tip of Scotland in Caithness. But it didn’t end there – they welcomed brethren (including some regulars) from Svolvær in, Norway, Virginia (USA), North Carolina (USA) Cincinnati and Puerto Rico.
Over the weeks a great deal has been discussed, from differences in ritual to the differences in how various regions are dealing with Covid, to even guns and ammunition!
If you are at a loose end one Wednesday – why not join us? Details can be found from Chris Wagstaff (visiting@oxfordshirefreemasons.org)
Or visit the Temple Island Henley Freemason’s lodge https://www.templeislandlodge.co.uk